The present invention is directed to a system and method, including a particular container, for the delivery of ready-to-cook cookie dough “eggs” in association with a cookie dough retailing operation. The operation is based upon a repeatable, franchiseable methodology for the ordering and fulfillment of consumer's orders as will be described in greater detail herein.
Heretofore, a number of patents and publications have disclosed containers for agricultural products such as eggs, and apparatus for the dispensing of cookie dough in preparation for cooking, the relevant portions of which may be briefly summarized as follows:
U.S. Pat. No. 6,561,235 to Finkowski et al., issued May 13, 2003, discloses an apparatus and method for depositing cookie dough into a tray, where the dough is extruded onto a tray moved by a conveyor or similar transport. In addition to the extruder, a cutoff blade is employed.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,911,939 to Lou et al., issued Mar. 27, 1990, teaches a shelf-stable microwavable cookie dough, where the dough is formed into individual cookie pieces and is pre-baked for a short period of time to provide a gluten skin on the cookie surface to provide an extended shelf life.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,865,299 to Crabtree, issued Feb. 11, 1975, discloses an egg carton with a flexible window well, where the carton is molded of a flexible material and has a bottom with two generally parallel rows of egg pockets therein.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,568,914 to Ahylmeyer, issued Mar. 9, 1971, teaches an egg carton having a molded paper pulp lower portion and a transparent plastic upper portion hingedly attached to the lower portion.
Consumers enjoy an opportunity to sample store-made specialty food items and, as expected, they will purchase specialty cookies in a ready-to-bake form. However, should a consumer wish to select a variety of ready-to-bake dough in single-serving size “eggs,” a method of distinguishing the different varieties from one another is required. In the retail operation in which the present invention finds particular use, a consumer is encouraged to purchase ready-to-cook foodstuffs in the form of egg or ball-shaped servings of cookie dough. The “dough eggs” as they are called, are available in a plurality of known and retailer-specific flavors or recipes, including chocolate chip, peanut butter, molasses, oatmeal raisin, oatmeal butterscotch, snickerdoodle, etc. Dough Eggs, as used herein, represents pre-formed balls of cookie dough available to customers by the variety dozen in a custom tooled egg carton, where the customer can order whatever flavor cookies they want in a customized dozen. Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a system and method of facilitating the order and delivery of ready-to-bake dough eggs, including custom packaging for such delivery.
In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a system for the delivery of ready-to-cook foodstuffs in response to a consumer order, comprising: a point-of-sale order terminal (at site, manual/automatic, remote) for logging a consumer's order for foodstuffs in single-serving sizes; a memory for storing data entered at the point-of-sale order terminal and representing the consumer's order; a processor for analyzing the data stored in memory for a particular order and re-ordering the data to group at least like foodstuff selections together; a display for displaying the consumer's order on a point-of-sale system for fulfillment of the consumer's order by a service associate; a container for packaging the consumer's order in accordance with the order displayed on the point of sale system, wherein the foodstuffs are placed in numbered recesses in the container; an order fulfillment sheet for attachment to the container, wherein the fulfillment sheet is printed separate from a sales receipt and includes a listing of the type of foodstuff that has been placed in each of the numbered recesses in the container; and means for delivering the container and the fulfillment sheet to the consumer at or near the time of payment (e.g., drive-up window, counter, delivery vehicle, self-serve, etc.).
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for the delivery ready-to-cook foodstuffs in response to a consumer order, comprising the steps of: obtaining a consumer's order for foodstuffs in single-serving sizes; storing data representing the consumer's order in a memory; re-ordering the data to group like selections together; displaying the consumer's order on a point-of-sale system for fulfillment of the consumer's order by a service associate; packaging the consumer's order in accordance with the order displayed on the point of sale system, wherein the foodstuffs are placed in numbered recesses in a clam-shell container; printing an order fulfillment sheet for attachment to the container, wherein the fulfillment sheet includes a listing of the type of foodstuff that has been placed in each of the numbered recesses in the container; and completing the order fulfillment by closing the container and delivering the container and the fulfillment sheet to the consumer at the time of payment.
In accordance with yet another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a container for ready-to-cook foodstuffs, comprising: a lower portion having a plurality of recessed regions formed therein; an upper cover, covering said lower portion; a flexible hinge connecting the lower portion and the upper cover, wherein the hinge, the lower portion and the upper portion are made of the same material, and where the lower portion, the hinge and the cover form a clamshell design; and a symbol (identification means) associated with each of the plurality of recessed regions formed in the lower portion.
One aspect of the invention is based on the discovery of a new technique for selling and delivering cookie dough or similarly ready-to-cook foodstuffs. The techniques are related to the manner in which consumer's may order the foodstuff's in a variety package (much like the ordering of a doughnuts, ice cream confections, fast food, etc. where the consumer places a custom order for the items desired), and the ways in which the order is logged, fulfilled and delivered to the consumer. Also, the method of packaging ready-to-cook foodstuffs such as cookie dough, and the way in which such foodstuff may be identified form unique aspects of the present invention.
The techniques and aspects of the invention described herein are advantageous because they permit an efficient and inexpensive method of fulfilling a consumer's order for dough eggs or similar foodstuffs in a fashion that will be well received by the consumer. Moreover, the aspects of the invention are flexible enough so as to be adaptable to any of a number of foodstuffs. The techniques of the invention are advantageous because permit the fulfillment of a consumer order from a range of alternatives. As a result of the invention, the cost-effective delivery of variety cookie dough and similar foodstuffs will be possible.
The present invention will be described in connection with a preferred embodiment, however, it will be understood that there is no intent to limit the invention to the embodiment described. On the contrary, the intent is to cover all alternatives, modifications, and equivalents as may be included within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.